How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Community Bank
Beneficiaries are managed in branch. Trust paperwork is taken in branch
Preparing your Community Bank accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and, where supported, retitling accounts into a revocable living trust. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.
With 13 product types, Community Bank offers a range of transfer options. Some accounts support Payable on Death (POD) designations, others can be retitled into a trust, and some require probate if no beneficiary is designated. The sections below break down each step.
Beneficiary form at Community Bank
IRA beneficiary designation form (for IRAs) and HSA beneficiary form (for health savings accounts).
- For deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market, CDs): add the beneficiary designation to the account signature card, recorded as the "Revocable Trust Account" ownership form
- For IRAs: complete the separate IRA beneficiary designation form
- For a health savings account: complete that account's own beneficiary designation
Required Documents
- Government-issued photo ID (at the branch)
- Each beneficiary's full legal name
- The allocation among beneficiaries (if naming more than one beneficiary)
- Trust agreement or Certification of Trust
- Trust tax identification number (SSN of the grantor for a revocable living trust)
- Government-issued photo ID for each trustee
Required Documents
- Trust agreement or Certification of Trust
- Government-issued photo ID (for each trustee)
- Trust tax identification number. The grantor's SSN for a revocable living trust
- New account signature card reflecting the trust ownership form
- For deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market, CDs): add the beneficiary designation to the account signature card, recorded as the "Revocable Trust Account" ownership form
- For IRAs: complete the separate IRA beneficiary designation form
- For a health savings account: complete that account's own beneficiary designation
Required Documents
- Government-issued photo ID (at the branch)
- Each beneficiary's full legal name
- The allocation among beneficiaries (if naming more than one beneficiary)
What Community Bank says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Community Bank's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary3
- Payable-on-death account
On checking, savings, money market accounts and CDs, a beneficiary designation is made in a branch on the account signature card. The Deposit Account Agreement records it as the "Revocable Trust Account" ownership form.1
A "Revocable Trust Account" is the bank's label for a payable-on-death designation on an account the customer still owns. It is not the same as retitling the account into a funded living trust, and the two produce different results at death.1
- IRA
An IRA beneficiary designation is separate from the deposit signature card and is completed on its own form.2
- Health savings account
An HSA beneficiary designation is separate from the deposit signature card and is completed on its own form.2
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- All accounts
Where two or more beneficiaries survive everyone who created the account, they own it in equal shares without right of survivorship, so a deceased co-beneficiary's share does not pass to the other beneficiaries.1
Beneficiary forms Community Bank issues2
What Community Bank's agreement says about beneficiaries3
- A beneficiary who dies first
Under the Deposit Account Agreement, a beneficiary can withdraw only once everyone who created the account has died, and only if the beneficiary is then living.1
- What the owner keeps while living
The people who create a Revocable Trust Account keep the right to change beneficiaries, change the account type, and withdraw all or part of the deposit at any time.1
- Joint accounts
If two or more people create the account together, they own it jointly with survivorship during their lifetimes. Beneficiaries take only after the last of them dies.1
Which accounts a trust can hold4
- Trust account
Deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market and CDs) can be retitled to a revocable living trust at a branch.2
- IRA
An IRA cannot be retitled to a trust.2
- Health savings account
The HSA cannot be retitled to a trust.2
- Fiduciary account
The Deposit Account Agreement allows accounts to be opened by a person acting in a fiduciary capacity. By opening one, the bank does not take on obligations on the customer's behalf, act as a fiduciary, or agree to monitor or enforce the terms of the underlying instrument.1
Accounts handled elsewhere2
- Nottingham Trust, Oneonta office
Trust administration, estate planning and settlement, and investment management, at a trust-only office3
Phone: 1-607-433-4122
Fax: 1-607-433-3515
- Nottingham Trust, Olean office
Trust administration, estate planning and settlement, and investment management, at a trust-only office3
Phone: 1-866-764-8638
Fax: 1-716-372-9121
Sources
Data sourced from Community Bank primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Community Bank instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Community Bank primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Community Bank estate support
Nottingham Trust (Oneonta Trust Department)
Phone
Toll-free
Olean Trust Department
Fax
Mailing address
Website
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